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Diamondbacks, A's continue set at Coliseum

Jul 2, 2011 - 2:41 PM (Sports Network) - Having just kicked off a 10-game road trip to close out the first half of the 2011 campaign, the Arizona Diamondbacks try to work their way back into the win column tonight when they clash with the Oakland Athletics in the second of a three-game interleague set at the Coliseum.

In front of a crowd of just over 12,000 last night, the Diamondbacks bowed in a 5-4 decision, their second straight loss and the fifth in the last six outings. On a positive note, it was a victory for Oakland manager Bob Melvin who was facing his former club.

Also, the win was the first of the season for hurler Rich Harden who began the campaign on the 60-day disabled list because of a strained right shoulder. Activated prior to the game after a couple of rehab starts, Harden got the win after giving up just two runs on four hits with six strikeouts over six innings for the hosts.

"He didn't have his best command out there but he did get through six innings," said Melvin about Harden's effort. "We were able to back him with some runs and get him and the team a win. It was a good start for him."

Cliff Pennington and Coco Crisp each drove in a run and scored once while Ryan Sweeney added two hits and an RBI for the Athletics who are still all alone in last place in the American League West, seven games out of first.

Kelly Johnson hit a two-run home run and scored twice while Wily Mo Pena hit a solo home run for the Diamondbacks, who have fallen three games off the pace in the NL West. Starter Josh Collmenter dropped his fourth straight start as he was tagged for all five runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts over just 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Diamondbacks, who now have the third-most strikeouts in the National League (638), fanned a total of 10 times on Friday, something that manager Kirk Gibson wasn't all too pleased about.

"You can't just keep pulling up changeups in the dirt," he said. "You have to make adjustments and we have to do a better job of that. We've struggled lately."

Slated to take the hill for the Diamondbacks tonight is lefty Joe Saunders. The former Anaheim Angel has a career record of 11-4 versus the A's but is facing off against the club for just the first time this season.

The Virginia native is currently three games under .500 this season at 4-7 and has watched Arizona drop three of his last four starts. Last weekend Saunders worked his way through seven innings against Detroit, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out eight to match a season-high, but he failed to earn the decision as the Tigers captured an 8-3 win.

As for the A's, they've penciled in left-hander Josh Outman as their starter for the night. The Central Missouri State product has been up with the big club since late May and has a 3-2 record to show for his efforts thus far in 2011.

Outman, who won his only previous matchup against Arizona, last pitched against the Phillies in Philadelphia last weekend and managed to limit the top team in the National League to just three runs on eight hits over six innings, yet Oakland still suffered the 3-1 setback on the road.

Since 2002 this is just the fourth season that the clubs have met during interleague play and Arizona had won seven of the previous nine matchups between 2006-2009. In terms of all-time records in interleague play, the Diamondbacks are just 99-119, while Oakland is 143-121.